Nothing is as it seems. This pretty much sums up “The Capture”.
In the first episode of the 8-part BBC mini-series, viewers were thrust into the cloak-and-dagger world of surveillance and intelligence services.
And, boy oh boy, was it eye-opening. More so, because it smacks of our new reality where no one is safe from the prying eyes of Big Brother.
Ron Perlman is one of the easily recognisable faces on the show. Although, his character Frank Napier is as much of a mystery as the unfolding mayhem involving Former Special Forces Lance Corporal Shaun Emery (Callum Turner), who is accused of kidnapping and murdering his lawyer, Hannah Roberts (Laura Haddock).
Although the evidence is stacked against him thanks to the securing of irrefutable live footage of the two of them together, Shaun is adamant he had nothing to do with her disappearance.
At first, Detective Inspector Rachel Carey (Holliday Grainger) is confident of his guilt.
However, unfolding events lead her to dig a little deeper, which results in her stumbling onto a conspiracy that could be most detrimental to her and all involved in the case.
Frank is one of the important cogs in this case as he has vested interest in Hannah, too. Although, his involvement is shrouded in secrecy.
Perlman, who has been embroiled in a legal divorce battle with his wife recently sought legal intervention and was declared ‘legally single’, is elated to be a part of “The Capture”.
The seasoned actor plans on tying the knot with his fiancée and “StartUp” costar, Allison Dunbar.
On his first impressions of the show, based on the scripts, he shared: “(I) Loved them, it’s very smart storytelling.
“The series thrusts you into a world where I had no idea what was happening and where the writer is ultimately going with the characters, so the scripts were the quintessential page-turner.
“My favourite thing is how brilliant Ben Chanan (writer and director) is at putting personality and idiosyncrasy into his characters.
“They aren’t talking heads, they are all kind of weird and twisted, and they have quirks, parts of them are over the top, parts of them are cynical and that comes out in strange, wonderful turns of phrase that are filled with wit and humour.”
Shedding light on his enigmatic character, he shared: “The fun of it is finding that out across the series, once Frank makes his entrance.
“But he is a guy with a great deal of gravitas and authority. He is a career guy, who's been around forever doing his thing.
“Frank comes into the series once Shaun's story is underway, and we aren’t quite sure what Frank thinks about this fella.
“But we know he’s taking a great deal of interest in how Shaun Emery can be useful to his agenda.
“We spend the rest of the time watching him manoeuvre and navigate, and we ultimately end up knowing a lot about his world view, his position about the ends justifying the means, how duplicitous he’s willing to be, and what part of him is real and what part of him is made up.”
Critics have lauded the show, which has been approved for a second season.
Perlman said: “In a world where the truth - and in particular the truth of journalism - is under assault with this phrase 'fake news', this is an amazingly important story and exploration.”
“I think that was what fascinated Ben Chanan: the original sin of why he wanted to sit down and grapple with this and turn it into six episodes of television. It’s a very pertinent series.
“We are grappling right now with the question of how much privacy we want to sacrifice in order to be safe and free. What’s justifiable and what’s unjustifiable? Where are the lines and are they being blurred?
“We are talking about a completely new breed of warfare that’s more idealistic than anything else, and having to adapt and having to throw out certain things that we assumed were birthrights, and then exchange them for things that are useful in terms of preserving our way of life.
“You couldn’t have a more current dialectic about all these situations than ‘The Capture’. It's very pertinent now and probably will be for many years to come.”
“The Capture” airs on M-Net on Thursdays at 10.50pm.
Viewers can also binge-watch the show on Showmax.